A whole new audience opens up for Xbox gaming.
The offering seems a bit small at first, but keep in mind that the company will continue to add new games to the fray, and it’ll be different than what it has to offer on its Xbox Game Pass.
Well, to a degree, anyway.
What all can you play on the service?
The full list of games for launch is below:
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- Absolver
- Afterparty
- Age of Wonders: Planetfall
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- Astroneer
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battletoads
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar
- Black Desert
- Blair Witch
- Bleeding Edge
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Bridge Constructor Portal
- Carrion
- Children of Morta
- ClusterTruck
- Crackdown 3: Campaign
- Crosscode
- Darksiders Genesis
- Darksiders III
- DayZ
- de Blob
- Dead by Daylight
- Dead Cells
- Dead Island Definitive Edition
- Death Squared
- Deliver us the moon
- Demon’s Tilt
- Descenders
- Destiny 2: Shadowkeep & Forsaken expansion (September 22)
- DiRT 4
- Don’t Starve
- Double Kick Heroes
- Drake Hollow
- Dungeon of the Endless
- Enter The Gungeon
- F1 2019
- Fallout 76
- Farming Simulator 17
- Felix the Reaper
- Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour
- For the King
- Forager
- Forza Horizon 4
- Fractured Minds
- Frostpunk: Console Edition
- Gato Roboto
- Gears of War 1: Ultimate Edition
- Gears of War 4
- Gears 5
- Goat Simulator
- Golf with Your Friends
- Grounded
- Guacamelee! 2
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo Wars 1: Definitive Edition
- Halo Wars 2
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Halo: Spartan Assault
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Hello Neighbor
- Hollow Knight
- Hot Shot Racing
- Human Fall Flat
- Hyperdot
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Indivisible
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Katana ZERO (Coming soon)
- Killer Instinct DE
- Kona
- Levelhead
- Lonely Mountains: Downhill
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Metro 2033 Redux
- Middle Earth: Shadow of War
- Minecraft: Dungeons
- MINIT
- Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
- Moonlighter
- Mortal Kombat X (Not available in Korea)
- Mount & Blade: Warband
- Moving Out
- Mudrunner
- Munchkin: Quacked Quest
- Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
- My Time At Portia
- Neon Abyss
- New Super Lucky’s Tale
- NieR:Automata
- Night Call
- Night in the Woods (Coming soon)
- No Man’s Sky
- Nowhere Prophet
- Observation
- Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Overcooked! 2
- Oxenfree
- Pathologic 2
- Pikuniku
- Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition
- Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- ReCore: Definitive Edition
- Remnant: From the Ashes
- Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
- Rise & Shine
- River City Girls (Coming soon)
- Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition
- Sea Salt
- Secret Neighbor
- Shadow Warrior 2
- Slay the Spire
- Sniper Elite 4
- Spiritfarer
- State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
- Stellaris
- Stranger Things 3: The Game
- Streets of Rage 4
- Streets of Rogue
- Subnautica
- Surviving Mars
- Tacoma
- Tell Me Why Episode 1 – 3
- Terraria
- The Bard’s Tale IV: Directors Cut
- The Bard’s Tale Remastered and Resnarkled
- The Bard’s Tale Trilogy
- The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- The Gardens Between
- The Jackbox Party Pack 4
- The Long Dark
- The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game
- The Messenger
- The Outer Worlds
- The Surge 2
- The Touryst
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- The Escapists 2
- The Talos Principle
- The Turing Test
- The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – Episode 1 through 5
- The Walking Dead: Michonne – Episode 1 – 3
- The Walking Dead: Season Two
- theHunter: Call of the Wild
- Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
- Totally Reliable Delivery Service
- Touhou Luna Nights
- Tracks – The Train Set Game
- Trailmakers
- Train Sim World 2020
- Two Point Hospital
- Undermine
- Untitled Goose Game
- Void Bastards
- Wandersong
- Warhammer Vermintide 2 (Coming soon)
- Wasteland Remastered
- Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut
- Wasteland 3
- We Happy Few
- West of Dead
- Wizard of Legend
- World War Z
- Worms W.M.D
- Xeno Crisis
- Yakuza 0
- Yakuza Kiwami
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
That’s a great list, and you’ll take note of some of the big Microsoft franchises in there, like Gears of War and Halo. Being able to take these on the go will be a godsend for many players, especially to those that want to play outside their home.
What’s the Best Way To Play?
Getting an Android device with 5G support is the best way to go about getting the proper connection for the Xbox cloud gaming service. It’ll enable you to run games like a champ, without having to worry too much about lag. However, keep in mind that even though the service has been in beta, there’s a chance the signal could fluctuate depending on how many people are trying out the service.
As far as when you hop on, you’ll need two things. The first is a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. If you don’t have one yet, it’ll run you just $14.99, and keep in mind that covers you across numerous devices – Android, Xbox One and PC.
Then you’ll need a good controller. Sure, you could use touch-screen controls, but for more complicated games – like Gears 5 – it’s a genuine pain in the ass. With that in mind, you can sync up an Xbox One game controller fairly easy using Bluetooth, and play properly wherever you go. It may seem a little silly hooking up a gamepad to a mobile device, but you’ll thank us later as you crush your enemies under your boot.
What About Apple Devices?
The program only supports Android devices for now, so there’s no word on when – or even if – it’ll come to Apple devices. With Apple clearing a recent ruling that it would allow streaming services, it could happen sooner rather than later. However, that depends on what kind of agreement Microsoft is willing to make. We’ll see what comes in the weeks ahead.
In the meantime, those of you interested in checking out Xbox cloud gaming can do so by downloading the app starting tomorrow and putting your games to the test. Have fun!
